BETA'D BY THEAMATEURAJ 10/8/16

(A/N: Hello all, This is my first Naruto FanFic. Im usually in the Fairy Tail universe, but I thought I'd try this out because the authors I like with good stories are never finished… Damn you Zukara!

I know for sure this is gonna be a Naru x Ino or Naru x Anko pairing, heck, might even be Naru x Sakura pairing… I don't know about a harem though, If it is, its gonna be relatively small, though I'm leaning towards a single pairing… I really hate the Naru x Hina, The shyness annoys me to no end.

Tags: Smarter/Witty and more badass Naruto. Moderate amount of Sasuke bashing.

What you're not going to see: No HinaXNaruto. Very little OC, I don't like OC's because It's tough to visualize em. No original Major Arc. I might do something small but meh, I'll mostly follow canon and maybe few of the movies with my twists. By the way, Anko and Kurenai will be a bit younger at this point in time AND the Uchiha's Massacre event happens a little later than usual.

Summary: Canon with some twists and altercations to the plot; The incident involving Mizuki happens to Naruto at the early age of nine. How will the early demise of Iruka and involvement of Itachi affect our young protagonist? NaruxHarem?

"Speech"

'thought'

"Jutsu: in use"

'Kyuubi/Summon thought'

"Kyuubi/Summon speech"

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto, all right belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, except the image cover used, that belongs to whoever created that. :D

Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself

Chapter One: The First Shift

X

Goggles firmly resting on his forehead, Naruto looked for something to occupy his time. Nearly anything would do at this point, really. He had been tiredly waiting for nearly an hour and goddammit if he wasn't bored.

The nine-year-old blonde pounded his head against the school desk silently as he continued to wait for the arrival of Mizuki-sensei or Iruka-sensei. "This is sooooo freaaaaaking booooring!" he grumbled to himself. Next to him, a raven-haired boy silently agreed.

Uchiha Sasuke had to admit that the dobe next to him had gotten something right for once. 'I don't need a history lesson… I need to get stronger to beat him. He already graduated by this age!'

Behind him, Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura glared at the orange-clad boy with an intense killer aura. He actually had the audacity to take the spot right next to their beloved object of infatuation!?

Naruto was well aware of the blatant killing intent stemming from behind him. It wasn't that hard to pick up, regardless, even if there was subtle killing intent, he would've been aware, simply because his instincts were now honed to the point where he could sense nearly every immediate hostile intent, no matter how insignificant, aimed towards him. However, Sakura and Ino's intent were more irritated rather than the murderous vibe he got from some of the villagers so he simply ignored it. The worst he would get would probably be a fist to the head from the two fangirls.

But he had experienced worse.

Much worse.

Sighing, the whiskered boy looked to his left at the young Uchiha. 'Why is this guy always brooding? He acts as if his clan was killed by his brother or some shit.'

Despite this thought, Naruto knew that the Uchiha clan was currently thriving and well alive. He also knew that Sasuke was butt-hurt because he wasn't as good as his older brother.

And how did our young protagonist know?

Easy, he knew Itachi on a personal level. When they first encountered each other, they understood each other well enough to form a sense of camaraderie. Itachi was well aware of the lone boy's pain and Naruto saw something within the older Uchiha that set him apart from the rest of his clan. Initially, Naruto felt a bit guilty that he was stealing Sasuke's bond with his brother, but as soon as Naruto found out about the giant dildo up Sasuke's ass, he shrugged all the guilt off.

Naruto thought back to when he first met the older Itachi.

: : : FLASHBACK START : : :

Naruto was silent as he stared at the ceiling of the Hokage's office, a whiskered face of intense contemplation in place. This particular day was a day where Naruto's usual exuberance was diminished. He sighed. The blonde knew this was for his best interest but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Still, he would rather be here than out there.

Sarutobi Hiruzen observed the blonde and frowned. He wished there was some other way to handle the situation, but this was the best possible solution for his surrogate grandson. He had to keep the young jinchuriki with him to insure his safety. After all, if past experiences were anything to go by, the levels of danger were at its peak for the boy at this time of year.

What unfortunate luck to be conceived on this day.

The Sandaime Hokage gave a weary and annoyed sigh as his duty as the village leader prevented him from actually doing anything more in terms of providing any sense of normalcy for the child's birthday. The only thing that was normal about Naruto's birthday was the present that only he, the Sandaime, would give to him.

Jiraiya of course sent him money, but Hiruzen didn't yet explain to Naruto as to who was funding him. He didn't want to let Naruto know about his godfather acting very… well… not godfather-like. How was a village leader supposed to explain to a child that his godfather couldn't be there for him because of said village leader's orders? The spy network provided by Jiraiya was invaluable and was crucial to the village's safety.

This year Hiruzen gave the boy a set of practice kunai and shuriken. It was all much duller than the actual versions of the items, but needless to say, Naruto loved it.

Naruto suddenly groaned. "Jiji, I'm bored! Can we go somewhere!?" the now eight-year-old boy exclaimed.

Hiruzen gave a sad smile. "Naruto-kun, you know why I can't let you go out-"

"But I don't know why! All I know is that the people will hurt me on my birthday, but I don't know why they do it!" Naruto scowled as he interrupted his grandfather figure.

The Sarutobi's smile turned into a frown. Knowing only one thing that could placate the boy, the aged Hokage set aside his paperwork and stood up. "Alright, fine, Naruto-kun. We can go out today since it's your birthday. I'll even treat you out to some Ichiraku's. Does that sound good?"

"Yatta!" In an instant Naruto was standing up and enthusiastically pumping his little fist in the air.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Alright, get your stuff and we can head out as soon as you're ready-"

Suddenly, Hiruzen's assistant, Miu, could be heard from the now slightly opened door.

"Hokage-sama, pardon the intrusion but the council wanted to speak to you about some urgent matter."

Hiruzen frowned. "Tell them I'm busy today." the Sandaime gave a good-natured smiled to the blonde. "After all, I have an important matter to attend to."

Naruto beamed at the Hokage and latched onto the old man's robe. Hiruzen returned this affectionate gesture with several gentle and affectionate head taps.

Miu's next words were a bit hesitant. "Are you sure Hokage-sama? The matter is regarding… possible intrusion of… Orochimaru-"

"Say no more. I'll be there," the Sandaime interrupted rather sternly.

At those words, Naruto's heart shattered as the boy's shoulders slumped depressingly. Tears threatened to spill as he bit his lips to keep himself from crying. Failing miserably,

The Sandaime knelt down to the boy's eye level. "I am so sorry, Naruto-kun. If I could, I would retire right now for you but the village really needs me. You understand, don't you?"

Despite feeling slightly betrayed, Naruto nodded glumly. Hiruzen stood up and frowned. 'If only someone else could- oh! If I'm not mistaken, it looks like Itachi came back.'

He felt the presence of one of the most prodigal shinobis coming in.

Hiruzen then turned to the crying jinchuuriki and knelt once again. "Naruto-kun, I promise I'll make it up to you, but in the meantime this will have to do, okay?"

Naruto looked confused as he looked up to the Sandaime's eyes with slightly blurred vision. Before he could ask, sounds of clothes rustling and movement resounded from behind him.

"Anbu Captain Kamataichi (Weasel) mission reporting mission #3041. Status: success," a sudden monotonous voice said.

"Ah, Kamataichi-kun, that is good to hear… However, I now have another mission that only you can accomplish. Do you accept?" Hiruzen spoke with a smile.

Realizing what the old jiji was doing, Naruto giggled.

Ignoring the laugh and presence of the young boy, Itachi straightened up and bowed. "Yes, Hokage-sama!"

He knew it mattered not what kind of mission it was. If it was perilous and he needed to risk his life to complete it, he would do it in a heartbeat for his village.

He would be a weapon of Konoha.

He would be the Hokage's tool.

He would be an instrument whose sole purpose was to do as asked and kill if necessary.

"You'rebabysittingNaruto-kunhere," the Sanaime quickly coughed out.

He would be Konoha's most accomplished babysitter.

Wait…

What?!

Naruto gave a cheerful wave and snickered.

: : : FLASHBACK END : : :

Of course, the knowledge of him and Itachi being friends was a secret to everyone but Naruto, the Hokage and Itachi himself.

Well, at least Naruto considered him a friend.

An older brother even.

"Dobe," Sasuke said, pulling Naruto from his thoughts.

"Teme," retorted the young demon container.

…

Naruto glanced at his raven-haired classmate when he didn't respond.

… …

'What the hell, why did he even talk to me?' Naruto frowned. 'Whatever, I'm just gonna ignore him.'

Sasuke, noticing the attention of the blonde was elsewhere frowned, 'Everyone should be paying the utmost attention to an Uchiha when one speaks to them!' In an irritated voice, he spoke once more, "Dobe."

Naruto sighed and continued to ignore him. 'I wonder what time we can get out of class… I want some ramen, dattebayo…'

"Oi, dobe! I'm talking to you!"

… … …

Sasuke was practically seething at being ignored. He was an Uchiha! Someone of his prestigious caliber should ever be ignored-

"What the hell do you want, teme?"

Sasuke smirked, an Uchiha would always get his way. It was in their divine right. "Hn. I don't know what you're talking about. An Uchiha like myself would never address you first unless we were ordered by the Hokage himself, and even then-"

The sliding of the classroom door interrupted Sasuke's self-pretentious speech. A random chunin came in.

"Attention class! Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei will be unable to come to class today due to… unseemly circumstances, therefore class will be cancelled for today."

Naruto grinned as a cheer erupted throughout the class. He knew that he was the reason for them not showing up… oh he knew all too well.

After all, he was the prankster king for a reason.

X

Naruto drummed his fingers against the countertop at his favorite little restaurant as he waited impatiently. 'Man, it sure is taking him a long-ass time. I wonder what the hold-up is?'

Bored, Naruto looked at everything around him, noticing every little detail before his eyes rested on one fourteen-year-old Ayame. He studied everything about her, her long brown hair underneath her white bandanna, her fair skin while she worked, and then looked at her dark brown eyes…

That were staring directly back at him.

Naruto froze, instantly realizing he had been caught gazing at her.

Instead of scowling or getting angry, Ayame simply giggled. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun, your ramen is almost done. You don't have to stare at me for much longer," she finished with a teasing tone.

Naruto turned tomato red as he spluttered out, "W-w-well, I-I mean I- I didn't mean- I'm not a pervert!" he finally ended up screaming.

A man's voice suddenly entered the verbal fray. "Are you perving on my daughter Naruto?!" he yelled in fake anger, but Naruto didn't properly perceive it.

Instantly recognizing the voice as Teuchi, Ayame's father, Naruto's visage became horrified. "Oi, Teuchi-oji-san, I'm not a pervert! I mean, yeah, she's pretty and stuff, but I'm only nine years old, dattebayo!"

"Oh, so you do think I'm pretty?" Ayame teased with a victorious smirk.

For the second time since he entered the ramen stand his cheeks felt blood rush through them as he tried coming up with an excuse. "I-I-I didn't m-meant it l-like that, nee-chan!" he cried out.

Ayame pouted as fake tears brimmed at the edge of her eyes. "S-so I'm ugly then…?"

Teuchi smirked as Naruto pointed a finger at him. "Look what you did, oji-san! Your daughter is crying and it's all you fault!" He then turned his attention to the pseudo-crying girl. "Ayame-nee-chan, don't cry! You're one of the prettiest girls I know, dattebayo!"

Ayame's demeanor did a complete one eighty as she ran around the counter and engulfed the young blonde in a choking embrace. "Aw, Naruto-kun! If only you were a bit older, I would nab you all for myself!"

"C-c-can't b-breath!" a blue-faced Naruto managed to choke out.

"Whoops, sorry Naruto-kun." Ayame giggled as she let go of the sputtering while he breathed in as much air as possible.

Teuchi chuckled at the children's antics. Naruto was always brightening the mood around here. The movement of the flaps of the restaurant indicating another customer had entered brought all their attention to the newcomer.

In unison, Ayame and Teuchi spoke with smiles on their faces. "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen-"

"Why were you so late, nii-san?!" Naruto screamed at the new arrival with a fierce glare.

Ayame and Teuchi bopped the young jinchuuriki on the head. "Naruto, that's no way to treat a guest of our restaurant! We thought you knew better than that!"

Before Naruto could defend himself the customer sat down and patted the young blonde on the head. Itachi held his other free hand up as a gesture to calm their scolding. "It's fine. I was a bit late after all… isn't that right Naruto-kun?"

Naruto pouted with his eyes squinted shut and arms defiantly crossed. "Hmph! Teme-nii-san was supposed to be here when I first got here…"

Itachi sighed and flicked him on the forehead. "Naruto-kun, what did I tell you about calling me that?"

"Ow!" Naruto rubbed his forehead soothingly before turning his squinty scowl at the Uchiha. "And I can't help it! You're teme's older brother and you were late! I think it's fair for you to be 'teme-nii-san' for one day!" huffed Naruto.

Ayame and Teuchi looked at each other before shrugging. "Uh… we'll let you guys get reacquainted. We need to go finish preparing the ramen. Did you want anything, sir?" Ayame asked politely.

"Hmm… I'll just take a vegetable ramen-" Itachi started off.

"Screw that! Get him a miso ramen, Ayame-nee-chan!" Naruto interrupted. He looked at Itachi with a desperate look. "Oh come on, Itachi-nii, you have to at least try the best stuff for your first time!" Naruto begged.

Itachi chuckled before he looked at Ayame and nodded in confirmation. "I'll take one miso ramen then." When she left, he patted Naruto on the head. "So no more Teme-nii-san, hm?"

Naruto grinned. "I guess you earned yourself a break."

The rest of their lunch went by without incident as Itachi listened to Naruto talk about his day.

When the subject approached the topic of the academy, the demon container then turned to Itachi. "Hey, how come your little brother is such a punk-ass bitc- ow!"

Standing over him was a smiling Ayame, who had evidently slammed a giant ladle on the blonde's head.

"You were saying something, Naruto-kun?" she said almost too sweetly.

"Err, I was saying, why is your brother such a sweet little angel?"

Itachi's mouth twitched in amusement as Ayame nodded in approval.

Suddenly the sounds of the stand's flaps blowing announced another customer and, without warning, Naruto was pushed off his seat.

"Don't call me an angel, dobe!"

Itachi internally groaned. Of course his actual little brother had to show up. Naruto angrily started to get up in order to retaliate but Itachi held him back with a gentle grasp on his shoulder.

Naruto simply sighed and ignored the younger Uchiha before he turned to the older one. "Alright, Itachi-ni-" Naruto froze as he caught his verbal slip, 'Oh crap…' he winced internally. Of course his freakin' slip of tongue had to be in front of Sasuke. 'Oh kami, he's gonna freak-'

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "What did you just call him, dobe?!"

"Nothing," Naruto quickly retorted.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. 'If he was about to say what I think he was about to say…'

Itachi quickly stood in between the two younger occupants of the restaurant. He turned to his younger brother in blood. "Sasuke-kun, what is the issue here? Did you come looking for me or did you come simply to antagonize your friend here?"

Naruto scoffed at the term 'friend'.

Sasuke seemed to agree with Naruto as he glared at his older brother. "Nii-san, why are you hanging with cretin that are beneath our clan name? Especially this dobe!"

Itachi frowned, "You should never address another person like that Sasuke-kun, please refrain from doing so again." The elder Uchiha gestured to the blonde blonde, "Naruto-kun here is a very good friend of mine."

Sasuke scowled, "Whatever, Tou-sama wishes for your presence."

Itachi nodded. "Alright, Sasuke-kun, go on ahead without me. I'll be home shortly." He mentally scowled. 'Must be another meeting on the coup d'état… looks like the time is approaching…'

"Hn." Came the reply of the young Uchiha as he turned around to leave.

Naruto scowled at Sasuke's back as he left. He shook his head and turned to the remaining Uchiha. "I don't see how the two of you are related."

Itachi chuckled and brought out enough money to cover both tabs. He flicked Naruto's forehead and the blonde yelped in pain, making Itachi chuckle even more as he left the pouting jinchuriki there.

"But he didn't even get to try ramen!"

X

Once Naruto finished eating he thanked Ayame and Teuchi before leaving. Deciding to get some good ol' training in, he started heading over to the training grounds. Using the alleyways and shortcuts to his advantage, he swiftly navigated the passages while achieving his desired intention of avoiding people. It would do him no good to run into anyone when he was alone. They didn't really do anything to him in broad daylight but the occasional villager or shinobi would gain the courage to throw something at him.

That included tomatoes and rotten food as he recently found out.

Other times it would be more lethal...

Naruto kept quiet and stealthily walked to training grounds forty-three, one he knew that was always empty. He didn't really know any reasons why, although he suspected it had something to do with training ground forty-four making weird feral and animalistic noises.

'Oh well, as long as it keeps people away from me it's fine,' he thought as he headed towards his intended training grounds. 'I wonder if that weird 'youthful' guy is gonna be around…'

Naruto frowned as he recalled the memories of the strange exuberant man. Oddly, the only thing he could recall is the words that the man kept shouting out with every punch and kick.

'YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH!'

Naruto cringed as the image of a green-spandexed man punching and screaming at the top of his lungs about youth assaulted his mind.

Shuddering at the thought of him, Naruto never ever wanted to be near that guy unless it was for shinobi purposes... maybe.

Despite his uh… eager tendencies, Naruto knew the man was pretty strong at the very least. He was working out like a madman without tiring every time Naruto saw or heard him. The caterpillar man would have several boulders attached to him while he did whatever exercise. Whether the exercise be running up walls or impossibly steep cliffs or ravines, the man always did it an extreme way. Either attach multiple huge boulders to weigh him down, or sprint up only on two fingers.

No weak man would ever do that.

Anyway, Naruto decided that since no one else would take the time of the day to teach him, he'd learn on his own. He looked at various shinobi training and tried to copy what they did. Of course, this was all done discretely... for obvious reasons.

And that was how Naruto trained everything… well… everything that wasn't chakra-based. Naruto couldn't do shit with his chakra and it absolutely irritated and puzzled him to no end even though they had just unlocked their tenketsu this year like every other year four academy students would.

It was sort of a rite of passage he supposed, at least that's what jiji told him. However, surprisingly, when Naruto unlocked his chakra everyone in a half-mile radius passed out, himself included.

The Hokage was there when he woke up and tried to explain everything to everyone about what happened. He said, "Naruto-kun has too much chakra and the density of it was- blah blah blah".

Naruto didn't really pay attention because firstly, unlocking your chakra was painful as hell and he was super exhausted after he regained consciousness; and secondly, when did he pay attention to anything important?

Never.

That's when.

Although he made a mental note to fix that issue soon.

Suddenly, a scream broke Naruto's train of thought.

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUTH! YOUTH! YOUTH!"

'Oh kami, he's close…' Naruto mentally grimaced.

He trudged towards the source of exuberance after some deep contemplation. It took a few moments, but with some common sense and the powerful need and want to get stronger, he reluctantly decided to go study the strange man.

The enthusiastic screams of passion grew even louder until he finally arrived hidden in the dense forest.

Welp, he was here now.

For better or for worse, not even he knew.

X

'Ok, first he ran laps- no… wait, did he stretch first? Well, no shit he stretched first. Everyone stretches first! Okay so let's restart… stretch first, laps, the basic pushups and shit, then the advanced and crazy weird pushups and shit… and then…' Naruto paused for a moment with a puzzled expression.

'Dammit! What the hell did he do again? Ugh, I can't concentrate right now next to this emo tit.' Naruto glanced at the raven-haired boy next to him who was currently glaring at him.

It had been like this ever since that incident at Ichiraku's… As soon as Naruto was in a two hundred feet radius of Sasuke the young Uchiha would find him and try to burn holes into the young blonde's very being.

It was pretty uncanny… Actually, it would've been a pretty impressive feat of determination if it wasn't so creepy.

Like, seriously! A wall could be separating the two and as soon as Naruto walked around the corner, Sasuke's duck-ass head would be fully rotated to glare at him while his upper torso was facing a completely different direction…

Seriously.

What. The. Fuck?!

And to make things worse, wherever Naruto sat, Sasuke would sit right freakin' next to him!

"Teme, I'm flattered and all… but I don't play for that team so, uh, if you could kindly get away from me… that'd be splendid…"

Sasuke blushed from embarrassment while the girls glared at the whiskered boy for implying womething that would put all of their efforts down the drain. The guys on the other hand loved it.

Kiba was practically howling with laughter while Choji chuckled.

Shikamaru muttered a quick 'troublesome' while having the faintest grin.

Shino seemed to be impassive but the shuddering of his chest and shoulders indicated silent laughter.

"I am not gay, dobe!" Sasuke hissed.

"Then why the hell do you keep staring at me and keep sitting near me? For the whole week on top of that!" Naruto challenged.

Stating these facts aloud seemed to have brought a heart stopping realization to the girls who worshiped the young Uchiha. Many of the young females, including Ino and Sakura, looked at each other with worry and a hint of panic in their eyes.

Why was Sasuke doing all those things…?

Naruto smirked at Sasuke who just gritted his teeth. He didn't really want to explain that he was jealous of Naruto's bond with his older brother, along with wanting an explanation on how and why they were closer than Itachi and himself, his actual brother.

Naruto continued smirking at the black-haired boy which seemed to piss him off even more. 'Oh man, I love moments like these…'

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when he heard something whizzing towards him. On instinct honed from all his life, he ducked and saw an eraser fly over his head hitting the desk behind him.

"Naruto!" barked Iruka, obviously the person who had thrown the object at him.

"What was that for, Iruka-sensei?!" Naruto yelped.

Iruka frowned. "That was for not paying attention!"

Naruto looked incredulous. "What?! Are you serious?! Of all people, me?! Oh for Kami's sake- look at the emo bastard next to me! He's been staring at me for the past few days! Not to mention he's been staring out the goddamned window for the past century and you didn't throw anything at him!"

Iruka looked thoughtful as he conceded a bit. "Well… I suppo-"

Too bad, Naruto was on a roll now. "And look at the two bimbos behind me! All they do is stare at sir emo-ass-" He jerked a thumb towards a still glaring Sasuke "-and you don't ever see them getting something thrown at them!"

Sakura and Ino didn't even hear him as they continued their dream-like stare at the raven-haired boy, apparently having quelled the question of Sasuke's sexuality from their minds.

Naruto then pointed to a sleeping Shikamaru. "And this guy! He's literally slept every class since day one!"

At this point, everyone was staring at Naruto in awe, including Iruka, with one similar thought on their mind. 'When did the dobe notice all these things?!'

Naruto then turned his attention to Kiba, who was now clearly outside the classroom window playing with Akamaru. "He's not even in class! Need I say more?"

Iruka looked outside with confusion on his face. "What the hell- when did he get- Kiba! Get your ass back in here!"

Kiba clicked his tongue in annoyance before he climbed back through the window, albeit begrudgingly.

Naruto then glanced at Hinata, contemplating whether or not to expose her for her… similar fangirl-like endeavors towards himself.

Hinata, who thought she was next on the target list, ducked her head with a furious blush. The blonde jinchuriki seemed to have changed his mind about calling her out on her weird stalking habit and resumed his rant. "And look at Choji- what in the actual fuck! Look at him! He has a damn grill in front of him with meat on it, and you're gonna call me out?!

Choji blatantly ignored everyone as he threw some more meat on the grill.

Everyone sweatdropped at the sight.

Iruka looked defeated. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, Naruto… and thank you for bringing this to my attention… Now everyone that was mentioned has detention!"

This set off a set of reactions, none that Iruka was hoping for. Sakura and Ino squealed at the prospect of spending more time with their precious Sasuke-kun. Shikamaru didn't care since he was just gonna sleep that time away anyway. Choji shrugged. He'd just eat more of the snacks he carried to pass the time. Kiba didn't care much. He had just received Akamaru from his clan and wanted to bond with the little dog as much as possible. Since they were now official partners detention would be fully and gladly spent with his new bud.

Sasuke, however, was a different story. The young 'prodigy' seethed at the blue-eyed blonde boy with evident rage. "Dobe, look what you've done!"

Naruto was about to retort when he felt two separate fists collide with the back of head along with the shout of Sasuke's two number one fans. "Yeah, idiot, look what you've done!" They yelled in unison.

"Ow! Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, that hurt!" Naruto whined as he nursed the back of his head.

Sakura and Ino huffed as one. "That's what you get for getting us all in trouble!"

'Not that we mind…' Both girls added in a silent afterthought.

"Whatever," Naruto mumbled.

Iruka pouted with comical tears streaming down his face. "Man! I don't think it would even matter if you brats had detention or not! It's not like it's gonna change anything! So luckily for you guys, detention is canceled… but seriously, back in my day…"

Iruka then went on to rambling on about today's generation needing to discipline themselves until the dismissal bell rang. Without any hesitation, Naruto darted out the room quickly with a scowl on his face. He had had enough of the people in the classroom and the bullshit.

X

Naruto kicked at the ground as he walked along the village. He kept his gaze down and ignored the villagers open disdain for him, having learned early on to not make eye contact or else he'd incite some form of retaliation from anyone within a hundred yard radius. He quickened his pace to the training ground he was heading to; civilians weren't allowed on the shinobi's turf so at least he'd be safe from them over there.

Of course, it was natural that he would have had a few run in with some angry shinobi every once in a while, but the most they did was sent him packing from the training grounds with some harsh words.

He approached the training ground with a mental sigh of relief. He was finally in the safe zone, somewhere he could kick back and relax.

Except he wasn't gonna kick back and relax, he was gonna train.

Well, he was gonna try.

The reason he could only 'try', and not 'do', was simply because no one had taught him. He couldn't really try and learn on his own because he never had the proper material at his disposal and he couldn't obtain them through stores with him being the pariah of the village.

This meant that as the scorn of the village he was constantly thrown out stores for simply being in there, and the instructors at the academy regularly sneered at him for even approaching them so that was a no-go… well, everyone except Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei.

But the two aforementioned chunin never had time because they were always grading papers and busy with some other teacher stuff.

That's why his training regimen was usually taken from other shinobi he was able to observe on the rare occasion that he wasn't found out by them.

Today, Naruto was gonna be following his own regimen and another that he observed from a rather happy fellow. Naruto scrunched his face up as he tried remembering the man in the green spandex suit's regimen for the umpteenth time.

"Oh yeah! I remember, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled emphatically as he set to run a hundred laps.

And that was only the warm up.

Naruto huffed and puffed as he ended his last lap. "Son of a gun, that was pretty tiring. Ugh… I guess this is the price of becoming Hokage, dattebayo!"

He quickly stood up and stretched before going to the decently sized stream, drinking some water from his cupped hands and washing his face as he relished in the revitalizing feeling.

Feeling somewhat refreshed, Naruto set about to do the next part of the workout before he suddenly froze.

What did he do next again?

Scrunching his face in concentration, Naruto struggled to recall the exact workout. His eyes panned across the training ground hoping for some kind of memory spark. When his eyes fell on some boulders he yelped in triumph. "Oh yeah, now I remember! Man, am I getting super smart or wha-" Then he realized the detail of the workout's next step.

Oh damn it all.

He walked to the area with boulders littering the ground with great resignation. The green-clad man with the caterpillars above his eyes must be bat-shit crazy to do this. After dreadfully reaching his destination he stared at the rocks with a somewhat blank look on his face.

"Guess I gotta do this if I wanna be Hokage someday..."

"Fuck me sideways, dattebayo!" he groaned as he lifted a boulder with his arms. Once there, he threw it in the sky and positioned himself to be as ready as he could.

X

Naruto was lying down face up with his chest panting from the brutal workout he just endured. 'Thank kami my stamina is fucking awesome. I barely finished that madman's workout… I don't know how that guy can move like a damn snake while I move at the pace of a damn turtle.'

Needless to say, walking laps around the training ground using only your hands was a tough workout, especially with a pretty giant-ass boulder balanced on your feet.

Well it wasn't giant, but hey, a big-ass rock on your feet that weighed nearly fifty pounds was pretty impressive… though Naruto saw the caterpillar man doing it with a boulder as big as a rhino.

'Oh well, one day I'll get there… I mean that guy must be strong if he can do that crazy exercise-'

Suddenly, Naruto was put on alert mode as he heard footsteps approach his location. He tried jumping to his feet only to fall down from the sudden head rush and muscle fatigue. He cursed himself for being in such a vulnerable position. "Fucking shit, I shouldn't have-!"

"Naruto? Is that you?!" came a very familiar voice.

The tension immediately dissipated from Naruto's body as he identified the source of the intruder. "Holy crap, Mizuki-sensei! Thank kami, it's just you! I thought you were someone who was gonna- erm, what are you doing here?"

Mizuki chuckled and feigned innocence. "Oh, I was just looking for you, actually. I've seen you train really hard and I have to say, I'm impressed… so impressed in fact I was wondering if you wanted to graduate a couple of years early."

Naruto's eyes widened at Mizuki's words. "What?! Are you serious, sensei?!" he asked excitedly.

Mizuki nodded with pseudo sincerity. "Why yes, I am Naruto. Now, let me tell you what you have to do to pass…"

Internally, Mizuki was sneering. 'Time for you to get what's comin' to you, you damn demon...'

X

Naruto panted heavily against a tree as he clutched the giant scroll close to his chest before he peered around the forested area to make sure no one had followed him. Seeing no one he slid down against the tree and plopped onto his rear. He took a deep breath and relaxed, allowing a proud smile to adorn his face.

He, Uzumaki Naruto, socially proclaimed 'dobe', had successfully stolen the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage tower itself!

'Ha! No one can call me the dead-last anymore! I'd like to see them try and do what I just did!'

Naruto adjusted his goggles from his forehead to his neck and wiped the sweat that accumulated on his viasge. He eagerly opened the scroll and peered at the list of jutsus.

"Mizuki-sensei told me I only had to learn one of these to graduate early… Should be easy enough, I think," he muttered to himself as he scanned the parchment. His gaze fell on one particular jutsu, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

"This jutsu allows the user to summon physical copies of themselves, however, the clone takes a lot of-" Naruto frowned, the next few words were blurred and had holes through them from the old age. "Ah, what the hell does it say? I can't see, dammit!"

Naruto squinted his eyes in hopes of making out any distinct words on the blurred out characters. "Damn. Whatever… where was I- ah. However, the user has many benefits from this jutsu. It can perform various jutsu on its own and on top of this, it can retain-"

Naruto swore loudly. "Bah! Fuck this boring horse shit! Nobody has time for all that! I'm just gonna learn it!"

X ONE HOUR LATER X

"Wow, that was actually pretty easy… what the hell?! How come this one is so much easier than that damn regular bunshin…?" Naruto pondered briefly before shrugging. "Oh well, maybe there's another jutsu I can learn while I wait for Mizuki-"

"Naruto! What the hell are you doing?!" A shout from Iruka interrupted him. When Naruto turned his head toward his sensei he saw that he stood behind him with a somewhat disappointed face, although the blonde easily ignored the expression.

Naruto's visage immediately brightened upon recognizing the voice. He jumped to his feet and turned around. "Iruka-sensei! Oh man, I'm so glad you came early! I'm totally pumped to show you the new jutsu-"

"Naruto."

"-That I learned! It was actually really easy, I got it down in nearly half an hour-" Naruto continued babbling on.

"Naruto!" Iruka grew a tick mark on his head.

"-But I thought about how-"

"Naruto!"

"W-What!" Naruto stammered out in panicked fear.

Iruka took Naruto by the shoulders. "Naruto, this is serious. I need to know why you took the scroll."

The blonde looked confused. "For the test, sensei! Mizuki-sensei told me that if I was able to take the scroll from jiji's place and learn a jutsu I'd be able to graduate as an early genin!"

Immediately piecing the puzzles together, Iruka's expression darkened as understanding emerged on his face.

In a small voice, Naruto asked, "Iruka-sensei… am I in trouble?"

The scarred chunin's gaze softened. "No, Naruto. You didn't do anything but listen to what your sensei told you to do-"

Suddenly, Naruto threw up a frantic finger behind him and screamed. "Watch out, Iruka-sense-!"

Too late.

THUD!

Iruka's eyes widened with momentary surprise before pain took over his mind as his back was penetrated by a fuma shuriken. The scarred teacher gritted his teeth as he tried to rip the big hunk of metal from his flesh.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?" Came an incredibly condescending tone. Immediately, Iruka turned around, albeit painfully, and confronted the source of the voice.

"Mizuki…" the injured chunin snarled.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you giant dipfuck?!" Naruto screamed while pointing an accusing finger at the light-haired chunin.

Seeing the blonde jinchuriki, Mizuki sneered with obvious disdain. "Shut up, you fool! You honestly thought you of all people would've been given an earlier chance than someone like Uchiha Sasuke, the actual genius of the class?!"

A confused Naruto asked in a somewhat subdued voice, "B-but you said…" Realization dawned in Naruto's eyes as he puzzled the pieces together. 'He used me…'

Anger bubbled up in Naruto's chest. "You piece of shit! I'm gonna kill you!" he screamed.

Instead of taking offense, Mizuki simply laughed deliriously. "Ha! You, kill me? And how in the world is the dead-last demon of his class going to accomplish that?!"

Before Naruto could respond, Iruka growled. "Don't call him that, you traitor! You have no right to say anything!" He turned to Naruto and said, "I need you to run and get some backup for me, alright?"

Naruto nodded dumbly and took off scroll tucked to his chest with both arms.

Iruka then turned his glare to his childhood friend. "Mizuki, how could you?! Why would you stoop so low?!"

"Why the fuck are you protecting that demon?!" Mizuki sneered. "Did you forget that it also killed your parents?! Join me, and together we can kill the demon and erase his existence from-"

Iruka was already shaking his head. "No, you're wrong. He's not a demon… He's Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka snarled as he wrenched the implanted piece of metal from his back. He then threw the fuma shuriken back at the pale-haired chunin.

Mizuki jumped onto a tree and latched onto it with chakra. He smirked haughtily. "Face it, Iruka, you were never a match for me to begin with and on top of that, you're injured… It's over."

Iruka clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. Even he knew it was mostly true. 'But I still have to try!' With that thought, he brought a kunai out and took a defensive stance. He had to try and buy Naruto as much time as he could.

X

Naruto paused halfway through his run and slapped himself for his stupidity. What the hell was he doing?! He has the Kage Bunshin for kami's sake! He quickly formed the seal he had recently become acquainted with and three clones were formed.

"Go directly to Hokage-jiji and tell him about the situation!" The original Naruto ordered. It felt a little weird talking to his clones but he'd have to get used to it. When the clones nodded in affirmation, the original Naruto turned back the way he came from with a look of determination.

'I won't let anything happen to Iruka-sensei!'

X

'No…no, no, no, no, NO!' Naruto frantically thought as he looked at the lifeless form in front of him. How could this have happened…? It wasn't supposed to happen this way!

"Dammit!" Naruto cursed as tears ran down his face. He fell to his knees and pounded at the ground in depressing frustration and sobbed hysterically until he heard a sneering voice.

"What's wrong, demon boy? Does it feel bad to see your loved ones die at the hand of the demon!? Now you know how everyone in Konoha feel-"

"Shut up…" Naruto growled.

Mizuki laughed mockingly. "Or what?! Are you gonna-"

Mizuki froze with fear.

This sensation… it hadn't been felt for nearly a decade but he would and could never forget it.

Even if he wanted to.

The pale-haired chunin broke out in cold sweat at the presence of the ferocious pressure exuding from the blonde boy in front of him, one thought dominated his mind.

'The Kyuubi no Kitsune…!'

X

A man with half his face covered in bandage wrapping approached the tower accompanied by two others.

Shimura Danzo, previously a candidate for the Hokage position and ex-teammate of the current Hokage in office, was now an elder for Konohagakure. With his two fellow elders and former teammates alongside him he headed to the office of one Sarutobi Hiruzen. Koharu and Homura, the two that accompanied him, had a stern look on their wrinkly faces.

While it wasn't obvious from a first glance, their walk was full of tension and their strides carried a sense of urgency. Today was the last day to take action…

Upon reaching the office door the three elders ignored the protesting secretary and barged in.

Hiruzen turned an impassive gaze to the three who had intruded. He knew the reason as to why they had come. Their motives had been a pressing thought in his mind for the past few weeks.

Ever since the elders and he had caught wind of dissension amongst a particular doujutsu wielding clan, they engaged in a heavy discussion on how their next course of action should be taken.

Being the peace-loving senile he was, the Sandaime wanted to handle the situation diplomatically, hoping somehow that words would be able to diffuse the issue. However, Danzo and the other elders came today and demanded justice, no matter how brutal the method was.

"Hiruzen, the time is near and you promised us an answer! We must not waste time any longer! Their traitorous actio-!"

From the corner of his eyes, he saw a mop of blonde hair shrouded in a transparent red cloak in the all-seeing crystal ball.

The elders yelped in surprise when their ex-teammate ran out the door completely ignoring them.

X

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, had witnessed many dark moments in his life. He had seen families torn apart, the deaths of loved ones, comrades and fellow shinobi, and was of the few that saw the unfortunate brutality of all three Great Shinobi Wars.

But none could prepare him for the scene before him.

In front of him lied the savagely torn remains of the traitorous chunin Mizuki. Not a single shred of skin was left intact. Tissues, muscles and shattered bones were all strewn apart on the forest ground. Blood coated the once normally green grass red and a heavy trail of blood led to two forms on the ground.

Naruto was on his knees rocking back and forth clutching Iruka's head to his chest all the while sobbing with unrestrained sorrow.

A solemn expression took ahold of the Sandaime's face as he approached Naruto before gently placing a hand on the young jinchuriki's shoulder, making the grieving boy lift his face to meet his village leader's eyes.

Immediately, the Hokage knelt and the young blonde immediately clutched onto his robes desperately.

Naruto tried reigning in the turbulent emotion that coursed through him as the Hokage stood in front of him but failed miserably. He dreadfully dabbed at his face with his blood-coated sleeve trying to halt the liquid that manifested from his eyes, "I-I'm s-s-sorry, jiji… I d-don't k-know what- he kept c-calling me a d-demon- he k-killed Iruka-sensei- it was just s-so hectic! One m-moment I see r-red and the n-next, M-mizuki is d-d-dead-"

Hiruzen interrupted the young boy's babbling. "Naruto-kun, all of this was out of your control. You aren't at fault for anything, do you understand?" he said sternly yet gently.

Naruto shook his head despairingly. "I s-should've s-said no… he asked me to do this…" Hiruzen made to interrupt the young boy again but the blonde continued in a whisper. "Why, jiji…? What did I do to deserve this? What did I do to deserve everyone's hate…?"

He looked up to the Sandaime's face and gazed with teary eyes. "I'm tired of not knowing, jiji… I-I got I-I-Iruka-sensei k-killed because I was stupid and weak…"

The Sandaime took his shoulders and spoke in a firm yet warm voice. "Naruto-kun, believe me when I say this was not your fault. As to your request… we'll discuss that later… now sleep, my child, you don't need to worry. I'm here for you."

Naruto nodded, knowing that was the best he was gonna get out of the leader and felt his eyelids grow heavy. One last thought rang through his mind before he entered the blissful void of sleep.

'I'll fix myself to be the best, Iruka-sensei… that's a promise of a lifetime.'

X

Naruto sat in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk and swung his feet in a bored childlike fashion. "Hey, when does he or she get here? I wanna start training, dattebayo!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose in obvious agitation. It had been a whole two weeks since the Mizuki incident and he had kept Naruto with him in case of a mental breakdown, making sure that he'd be there for his surrogate grandson.

Yet it seemed as if he didn't need to worry because the boy was nearly back to normal. Hiruzen observed Naruto's every action from the beginning and all of the signs pointed to the theory that Naruto didn't remember killing Mizuki in his chaotic frenzy.

However, that wasn't why the Hokage was a bit irritated.

The problem was that Naruto was now obsessed with training for Kami knows why and the little blonde wouldn't stop bugging the old man about it. Hiruzen simply shook his head. "Naruto-kun, there was no guarantee that the person we were talking about would show up today, and besides, you know that the person is busy. How about you go home for today and come back tomorrow?"

Naruto's shoulders slumped at the thought of waiting another day. He plopped onto his two feet and replied in a grumpy tone. "Fine." He thought on what he should do. The academy was on a summer break so he literally had nothing to do. He could always pull some pranks but he didn't feel like it due to all the recent events.

Hiruzen exerted a tired breath as he watched the little blonde jinchuriki exit the office and went back to previous thoughts. The problem that was rising from a particular clan did not bode well for him or Konoha and he was sure the elders were going to come back sooner or later. He grimaced as he paged his secretary. "Maya-chan, please set up a meeting between the elders and I ASAP."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Both Naruto and Hiruzen had forgotten what day tomorrow was.

October tenth, the day that the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked.

It was also Naruto's birthday.

X

'Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!'

Naruto cursed himself for being such an idiot. How did he forget today?

Of all people, how could he forget!?

Naruto stumbled to the ground as the pain in his leg finally caught up to him. 'I guess the adrenaline wore off now…' he grimly realized. He shakily got up to his feet only to fall again. "Damnmit!" he cursed. He looked over from the direction he came from and saw the mob generalizing towards his direction loosely.

Naruto chuckled darkly when he heard them scream out the usual bullshit.

"Find the demon!"

"He went this way!"

"Don't let the bastard escape!"

"Make him pay!"

If he had received a single ryo for all those phrases he had just heard, he'd have enough to buy out the entire Elemental Nations and then some. It was so fucking cliché and he heard it a shit ton of times more on this specific day than any other.

October tenth.

Yep, it was an absolutely great day for a birthday.

Naruto gritted his teeth in pain as he once again attempted to stand up. He had to get away now, otherwise the mob would catch him again.

Footsteps pounded towards Naruto's general direction as he hobbled along desperately, taking a glance back while moving, he failed to notice the figure right in front of him.

"Gotcha, you little bastard!"

X

Naruto yelled in agony as a second kunai implanted itself into his calf. Surrounding him was mostly civilians and very few shinobi. Now that he effectively couldn't run they had him cornered.

Knowing this, Naruto simply curled up in the fetus position and closed his eyes. He tried protecting himself as best as he could by using his hands to cover his face, the seemingly primary target for the mob's punches and kicks.

Suddenly, all of the attacks ceased and he felt himself being taken ahold of by the arms and legs.

Trembling and shaking, Naruto fearfully opened his eyes to see himself being taken by the shinobi to outside the village walls. He strained and pulled with all of his effort to try and free himself but it was for naught. How the hell was a nine- well, ten-year-old supposed to free himself from some battle hardened shinobi?

'Please… omeone… anyone…'

He cried and whimpered for someone to save him, but it all went unanswered. If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, he would've noticed that this was the first time he had been taken outside of the village walls.

"I'm s-sorry! I d-don't know what I did! I'll s-stop, just p-p-please let me g-go!" Naruto begged.

As an answer, one of the shinobi who was carrying him punched him square in the stomach, involuntarily forcing blood to cough out.

"Oh, don't worry, we won't kill you just yet. No, that would be showing you mercy. We're gonna make sure you suffer for years and years to come…" one of the shinobis spoke in a low voice.

The group of five shinobi then reached the forestry that surrounded the village and quickly entered the somewhat dense foliage. Without warning, Naruto was thrown and pinned against a very large oak tree.

The unmistakable sound of metal piercing skin resounded in the air followed by a loud scream of pain that broke with sobbing. The shinobi stepped back and admired their grotesque work.

Before them, the boy they believed to be the actual Kyuubi no Kitsune was crucified to the tree. Kunai implanted at his wrists and ankles prevented movement and caused Naruto continued crying helplessly while desperately apologizing for crimes he didn't commit.

A shinobi with an eye patch over his left eye stepped forward. Seeing how the other shinobi made a path for him, Naruto assumed he was the leader and looked at him with tears streaming down in torrents.

Speaking in a light tone that didn't fit the situation, the man spoke with a wide smile. "Nine years ago I lost part of my life. Nearly everything was taken from me; my family, my friends, my wife and even my children!" His demeanor took a one eighty as he slapped Naruto in the face without warning, causing the blonde to cry out in pain. In a low and angry voice, the one-eyed man said, "And as if that wasn't bad enough... you just had to take my fucking eye!" Upon saying this, he lifted his eye patch and revealed a rotting eye socket.

Naruto felt his stomach content rising to his throat as he quickly averted his eyes downward. In the end, Naruto willed the stomach content down through sheer will power.

"Please… I won't say anything if you let me go…" Naruto whispered, face still stinging from the man's sudden blow to him earlier. He would have begged, but he was quickly losing energy. He was only hoping his words would placate the man.

Instead of answering his question, the man drew a kunai and twirled it around his finger. Gazing at the weapon as it glinted against the moonlight he spoke slowly. "You know… it really sucks only having one eye…" He directed his attention to Naruto and looked the young blonde in the eyes with a dangerous look. "Do you know where my eye is?" he asked as he tilted his head with a maniacal smile on his face.

Naruto shook his head slowly in fear, not trusting the words he'd let out... He didn't want to risk his answer angering the obviously deranged man.

"Oh, now that's a real bummer." The man frowned and looked crestfallen. His shoulder slumped and the kunai he was twirling around fell to a standstill as he looked down in a defeated manner. For a few seconds Naruto almost believed that he had somehow calmed the crazy man from any extreme actions.

Almost.

The man abruptly stood tall with a cheery smile on his face. "Well, you know how that saying goes… an eye for an eye!"

With that being said, the man smiled and approached Naruto with malicious intent.

X

The mention of Naruto's name on this particular day made the Sandaime Hokage pale with unease.

They had just got done going over the report of the… incident and Itachi had one last request before he was marked as a nuke-nin. Hiruzen had smiled sadly when he heard this. One of the few people Naruto had bonded with was now leaving all because of himself and the council.

Itachi's last request was to visit the blonde he had bonded with over the last year and a half before he left. That's when the weight of the current date decided to firmly stomp its way into his mind. That led to the both of them quickly striding over to the desk to use the crystal ball to locate him.

Once they looked through the crystal ball to find Naruto, much to their horror, they saw a group of ninja carrying him into the outer forest of Konoha. Immediately, the Hokage cursed himself for being such a fool. He knew what day it was, yet somehow, nearly every year around the same time, something always occupied him. It was not a coincidence, he theorized, the civilian council and majority of the shinobis wwere behind this somehow.

He just couldn't find any damnable evidence.

Itachi and the Sandaime used the Shunshin no Jutsu immediately to the front gates of the village. Recognizing that they were still in the immediate forest of Konoha, Itachi and Hiruzen had decided to split up to find the boy. Although this was their home village, the forest was just simply too damn big for them to automatically know where everything was at by heart.

"Itachi, if you find Naruto, bring him back immediately to the tower. If you find those responsible… you know what to do. However, you know you must immediately leave as soon as possible. The village will find out about what you did soon enough." The Sandaime spoke swiftly without remorse and only with absolute authority. It was the man known at The Professor and the Hokage speaking, not the loving grandfatherly figure to the people of Konoha.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Itachi instantly replied before running off to the east side of the forest.

The Sarutobi really wished at this moment that he could call on his jonin and Anbu but he needed to keep everything discreet if he were to grant Itachi's last request. With these thoughts, the Sandaime shot off in the opposite direction from Itachi.

X

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!" Itachi whispered. Summoning three Kage Bunshins took a solid amount of chakra from Itachi, hence the reason he didn't create a lot more. It would be useless to summon thirty clones only to dispel them after thirty seconds or a minute. No, it would be more efficient to summon a few and have them be able to use a decent amount of chakra to help them find the young blonde. Immediately, they sped off in random directions in hopes of completing their tasks as quickly as possible. Itachi picked a direction where his Kage Bunshins hadn't gone to and sent chakra to his ears in hopes for a sign to the whereabouts of Naruto.

He immediately heard some rustling and pumped chakra through his legs to the source of noise. He ran and ran in hopes of finding-

"Tsk." Itachi stared at the cause of the noise with a frown. 'Just a squirrel…'

If he didn't find the boy soon, he was sure the blonde would be severely injured or dead by the time they got to him. Itachi checked his reserves and seeing that he had about two thirds of it left, he summoned another set of three Kage Bunshins and sent them off in random directions.

He was getting desperate in finding the boy. He didn't know why but the blonde provided the companionship and feelings of a real little brother. Sasuke was more of a wannabe rival from the Hyuuga clan that only saw him as a motivational piece and that was it.

Every other shinobi held him in a rare reverence that stemmed from him being a young and accomplished shinobi that happened to be an Uchiha.

But Naruto was different.

Naruto treated him normally and didn't see him as a genius but as simply…

Itachi.

It was foolish for him to have developed a familial bond with the boy because he knew one day he had to eventually sever the bond. He knew this when he told the Hokage about the uprising in the Uchiha clan… but the little kid was a sphere of energy that had a gravitational pull about him once you got to know him.

Itachi sighed. Not to quote the Nara clan but it was quite 'troublesome'.

Again picking a different path from those of his clones, he quickly ran and pumped chakra through his legs once again. He ran up a tree and started taking the high route. Hopping from branch to branch, he broadened his senses to-

Suddenly, an agonized scream pierced the moonlit night.

Itachi froze.

Anger bubbling up in his core, Itachi activated the recently obtained Mangekyou Sharingan subconsciously and flared his killing intent. With inhumane speed, Itachi silently blurred through the thickets.

More people were going to die tonight.

X

I apologize for the fast pace, I plan on slowing down and going more in depth from the chapters here on out… if you want me to continue this that is.

Also, please review about the pairing:

Naru x Ino or Naru x Anko or Naru x Temari

Or Naru x Harem.

I wouldn't mind either. I'm just leaning toward a single pair because I think I'd do a better job of a relationship but I think I can do harem… I hope. Lol. Please Review!

-RandomHobo

Edited by TheAmateurAJ: 10/8/2016